Investigation of Wake Effects on Aeroelastic Responses of Horizontal-Axis Wind-Turbines

Abstract

Wake effects of a horizontal-axis wind-turbine blade on aeroelastic characteristics were investigated under normal operational conditions. A structural analysis was performed employing a nonlinear beam model based on the large deflection beam theory. For inflow analysis on rotor blades, a free-vortex wake method was employed. An advantage of the present approach is its ability to calculate directly the induced velocities from the wake. Also, for the predictions of aerodynamic loads, a fully turbulent flow solution is invoked in FLUENT, where the k-omega SST turbulent model of two-dimensional airfoils is adopted for transient analysis. To verify and validate the aerodynamic model for wind turbines, the wake geometry and the aerodynamic coefficients from the present simulation are compared with measurements and numerical results of previous studies. Finally, an analysis of the tightly coupled fluid-structure interaction phenomena of a wind-turbine blade has been carried out to investigate aeroelastic characteristics, such as steady-state blade deflections and dynamic stability. The present results are compared with the numerical results obtained using a uniform inflow model, which clearly confirms the importance of wake effects on the blade aeroelastic characteristics.